Carlsen scored a show-stopper in the fourth round of the Norway Chess 26 on Thursday, beating reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in a high-stakes battle in Oslo. Carlsen, playing with the black pieces, played the young Indian star straight and bore down throughout the game and won a valuable classical game in a very strategic battle.
The game was fairly even for a long time until Carlsen started to assert himself in the middle game. Gukesh battled valiantly to hold his ground in this complex area, but under intense time pressure, the world number one made it count. Carlsen’s win was a positive sign to get him going after a slow start to the tournament on home turf.
After a traditional draw, the remaining games in the open section were broken by Armageddon tie-breaks. Wesley So beat Alireza Firouzja in Armageddon and R Praggnanandhaa beat Vincent Keymer in another tight tie-break match.
Gukesh is still one of the favourites to win the tournament despite the defeat, while Firouzja is still on top of the overall standings with four rounds to play. However, Carlsen’s win has helped him considerably in his position and reigns once again.
All three of the classical games in the women’s division tied before the bonus points were determined by Armageddon. Bibisara Assaubayeva kept her lead following her Armageddon win over Ju Wenjun while Anna Muzychuk and Zhu Jiner won the tie-breaks.